Ammon Bundy and other members of the armed militia that took over a U.S. wildlife refuge in Oregon have been slapped with new federal charges, including carrying firearms into federal property and stealing and damaging government property, Reuters reports.
According to the report, the new indictment supersedes an earlier indictment in the case in which Bundy and others were charged with conspiracy to impede federal officers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge during a protest over land rights.
A county prosecutor also said Tuesday that protest leader Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, who was killed by Oregon State Police late January during a traffic stop, was hit three times during the confrontation. The prosecutor called the fatal shooting "justified and necessary," Reuters reports.
Reuters notes that the superseding indictment lists 26 defendants, each of whom is charged with conspiring to impede federal agents. It also now accuses some of the protesters of possession of firearms and dangerous weapons in federal facilities, use and carry of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and depredation of government property. Three other occupants were also charged with theft of government property, including a 2012 Ford F-350 Truck, cameras and other related equipment.
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